ASOS dress DIY: Sewing Circle reader question

11.30.2011

I'm so excited about this question--I'm pretty sure I found the right pattern to help this reader out copying this adorable dress! Read on and chip in, as I love when you do on Sewing Circle posts =)

I got this question from Stephanie:

I've been a fan of your blog for a while now, and it's actually been a large part of the inspiration that got me to start sewing clothing. There's a particular project I'm hoping to do (even found the perfect fabric for it), but I haven't been able to find a pattern that has the bodice the way I'm looking for it (only patterns I could potentially combine - I'm still rather inexperienced though and would prefer not to have to improvise my first sleeves). I wonder whether you've maybe seen something like this with a scoop neck and sleeves (it seems fairly basic so I imagine it's floating around somewhere!).

After looking at the full dress on the ASOS site, and thinking about patterns, my first thought for copying it was a discontinued pattern I used to have by McCalls, M5686—you may be able to find it online. Bodice from the green dress, style A.

And the skirt looks like a 6-panel gored, but you could get the same look with a circle skirt like Simplicity 2233.

But then, luckily, I also found what seems like pretty much the perfect pattern from Vogue! So it’ll be spendy, but sometimes they go on sale at JoAnn for $3.99 each. Seriously, this contains the right bodice (darts under the bust and under the arms), sleeves (except ASOS's are shorter, but it's easy to make sleeves shorter), and skirt lines! Vogue Easy Options V8766.

One difference--the ASOS version has a lower-cut neckline than the way this looks on the model. Also, make yours fit you better than Vogue's fits her. But yeah, cut down the scoop neck an inch or so, cut the sleeves shorter, and you should have a remarkable similar-looking dress!

It’s a super cute look, great for the holidays--I may have to make something like it for myself this winter! Readers, please chip in your ideas, too, if you've seen a more perfect pattern!

Wow, @Laura! Way to be detail-oriented. I hadn't even noticed the zippers on the sleeves or the back. You can buy looooooong zippers, sometimes even by the yard, and the back one would be easier to install than a regular one because you don't have to align the fabric at the end! As for the sleeves, it looks like a simple centered zipper--you'd cut a slit up the sleeve before you hem it, then snip in to create corners at the top of the slit and fold under the raw edge. Press. Then center the zipper and sew both sides in!

Of course, the dress would still be super cute without those details!!

This is a great pattern! I bought this for my holiday dress because I wanted to make the Erdem dress Michelle Williams wore. I did a practice round without the lace for Thanksgiving and got a lot of great compliments.